The Power of Conversation
My conversation with Marcus Luther from The Broken Copier Podcast
A telltale sign of a good conversation is how I feel immediately afterward. If I come away feeling exposed and nervous, it wasn’t meaningful. It might be because we disagreed or maybe we didn’t connect with each other. However, when I walk away from a conversation feeling buoyant, I’m confident that I really connected with the other person. It is almost euphoric because I feel like I received as much as I gave.
I get a special feeling during a meaningful conversation with someone new. Time seems to slow and I find that instead of half-listening, ready to share my own thoughts, I’m actively listening, asking questions, and empathizing. Soon, we ease into a free-flowing back-and-forth sympatico. Comfortable dialogue is a powerful human connector. When I feel comfortable, I concentrate my engagement. As Dr. Brené Brown says, “we are hardwired for connection, curiosity, and engagement.” I felt all three recently during my time on The Broken Copier with Marcus Luther.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Marcus Luther on his podcast The Broken Copier. This podcast is a collaborative effort with Jim Mayers. Jim and Marcus are both veteran high school English teachers who started The Broken Copier to have “healthy, authentic, and honest conversations about teaching.” This is exactly how I felt during my chat with Marcus. We discussed teaching pre and post pandemic, leaving the classroom to coach, how I gauge my students’ experience, impactful teachers in my life, The Breakfast Club, and my most recent (and very challenging) school year.
I joined social media ten years ago because I was feeling isolated in my classroom. I wanted to connect with other teachers, share resources, and chat about what we were doing in our classrooms. Today, I feel that Substack has become that place. Whether you are a new subscriber, or you’ve been reading from the beginning, I feel connected to the community we are creating together. I hope that you all enjoy listening to the conversation I had with Marcus. If you have any questions about any of the topics we discussed, please reach out. I’d love to connect with you and grow this community.
Have a great week!
—Adrian
Resources
I highly recommend you subscribe to Marcus Luther’s and Jim Mayers’ Substack and podcast. There are some incredible archived interviews and posts that will give you plenty of ideas for things to try in your classroom.
I’m a huge fan of Dr. Brené Brown (does that make me a Brownie?). In this 60 Minutes interview, Brown discusses the importance of vulnerability and the difference between being vulnerable and over-sharing.
How to Nurse an Oversharing Hangover | The New York Times
In case you need some help with a conversation that didn’t go so well, this article has some excellent tips.
The art of meaningful conversation | TED Talks
This is a playlist of different TED Talks regarding conversation and connection. I recommend you start with Celeste Headlee’s 10 ways to have a better conversation, then listen to Clint Smith’s The danger of silence, and finally, end with Dr. Brené Brown’s famous talk, The power of vulnerability